Wednesday, November 25, 2020

DO IT FOR LOVE

 


The word Love is rather powerful. And depending on how one views it, it can mean a lot. In some cases, it signifies that someone likes something a great deal. When you start combining the word with other phrases and parts of speech, you can conjure up more emotion within the people. Take the phrase "Do it for love." As I have found out in my research, many songs had a similar title or verses saying just as much. Yet, I am sure we all have an idea about what doing something for "love" actually is. So in today's piece, I will delve deeper into this, looking into the chapter entitled Do it for Love from the book The Way of the Superior Man by David Deida.

So as my intro stated, I will be talking about Love, or more specifically, what doing something for Love looks and feels like. I know that doing the things I enjoy or "love" takes me to a whole different place than something I have to do or hate doing. As my mindset, I found and reflected on the book The Way of the Superior Man, a book I have reviewed here on this channel, and you can find it here BOOK REVIEW.

For reference, the book claims to be a spiritual guide to mastering the challenges of women, work, and sexual desire. And being geared to a male audience, a woman recommended it to me, so there is that.

Moving along, the chapter of my focus states, 

"Most men's ultimate reason for doing anything has to do with discovering their deepest truth, enjoying total freedom and love, and giving their fullest gifts." 

With that as an ideal, most men never really achieve that, yet they enjoy bits and pieces of freedom, sharing in on the good things of life: the Love of a woman, the pleasures of possessions, or building a comfortable life themselves. Yet at this level, as the book states, 

"The freedom or love they have achieved and the way they have given their gifts often leave a sense of incompleteness." 

Maybe you as a man have felt this? Feeling you could give more, do more, or that you want to untrap yourself from the loneliness, the tension, and fear and give your gifts? If that strikes a chord with you, then in the words of the author David Deida doing it for Love is this.

"To bloom woman and world for real takes authenticity, persistence, and courage of heart. A man must know the truth at his core and be willing to give his gifts fully. No holding back. He must be willing to dedicate his sex and his life to magnifying Love by penetrating woman and world with his true gifts. This willingness is rare."

You may be questioning what you just read, but yes, Mr. Deida compares a man giving his gifts to having intercourse with a woman and the world. He goes on to state that.

"Many men are willing to poke the world and bloom it in a mediocre way, making a few bucks and contributing enough betterment, so they don't feel their life is a total waste."

This statement says many men are just half-assing life. Whatever their reasoning may be from the anxiety of uncertainties, fear of giving entirely many men just due to the minimum to receive some pleasure out of it or comfort to qualm this nagging feeling of incompleteness.

To remedy this comes in two forms: renouncing sexual intimacy and worldliness, dedicating yourself fully, without the distraction of the unpredictable woman and world. The other, as the book states so clearly, is to

"Fuck" both to smithereens, to ravish them with Love unsheathed to give your true gifts despite constant tussle of woman and world, to smelt your authentic gifts in this friction of opposition and surrender."

Then, my point is that men need to step up and Do it for Love, be it with your woman or in dealing with the entrapments of this world. I mean, we all can relate to the idea of half-assing it getting just enough from our effort that it may seem to others that we've given our best, but deep down, we've only done enough to get ourselves off. Delve deeper, my man, find your truth, find your most accurate gifts and Love and then give it freely, knowing that no matter how unpredictable the world around or your woman may become, you have what it takes to penetrate them with your unrelenting Love.


Saturday, November 21, 2020

MY NETFLIX MOVIE REVIEWS #235

 



When renowned crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is found dead at his estate just after his 85th birthday, the inquisitive and debonair Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is mysteriously enlisted to investigate. From Harlan's disfunctional family to his devoted staff, Blanc sifts through a web of red herrings and self-serving lies to uncover the truth behind Harlan's untimely death. Written by Lionsgate (Courtesy of Internet Movie Database)

KNIVES OUT (2019) written & directed by Rian Johnson and produced by Ram Bergman. I don’t really remember what compelled me to put this film on my list. I do remember seeing the trailer, but I don’t remember it having much of an impact, yet here we are.

Upon watching, I found a film that harkened back to “who done its” of the past like the Oriental Express or Clue. In that vein I continued to watch knowing if I miss something I could be in the dark for the rest of the movie. I also felt the casting was interesting and as a whole the chemistry was good. Yet my quarrel is with a story that seemed that it could have been more compelling or at least memorable.

In the End: KNIVES OUT was a well-made film, even entertaining, but I felt it lacked something which would have me talking about it the next day or even a week later. So for this film I give it 3 of 5 stars.



Thursday, November 19, 2020

ART SHARE

Welcome back to another Able Abe Studios Art Share. In today's piece I've completed a WIP, really digging my maker process. Now on to the next ...Let's GO!!!


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Wednesday, November 18, 2020

THE MARKETING LAW OF CATEGORY

 


In a continuation of my last piece on marketing law of Leadership from the book The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries and Jack Trout, I will move on to the next. In today's piece, I will be discussing the second law with you, which happens to be the law of category.

So in the previous piece, we discussed Leadership's law; if you missed that one, you can find it here LAW REVIEW. And today, moving ahead, we focus on the second law that being the Law of Category. This law from The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing states,

"If you can't be first in a category, set up a new category you can be first in."

This law is Al Ries & Jack Trout's advice when being second in the prospect's mind with your product.

Why is this? The reason is this "everyone is interested in what is new, and few people are interested in what is better."

According to the authors, when launching a new product, it is not how your new product is better than the competition, but what category is this new product. In the law of Leadership, the example used here was first to take a solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean. This was, of course, Charles Lindbergh. The second being Burt Hinkler, who in many cases is overlooked being the 2nd to do it. Yet I believe you know who was 3rd in doing this feat or do you? Third, in this case, was Amelia Earhart. Ms. Earhart 3rd to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, but she was the first woman to do it, creating her category as a woman.

Furthermore, this distinction is essential as the book states, "That when you're the first in a new category, you should promote the category, as in essence, you have no competition."

For those products, brands, or categories that have been around for some time, a way to re-invent themselves is to put your product in a new creative category, which allows you to again be first in another aspect and top of mind in your prospects mind.

So my point to the marketing law of category is to think differently and see how your product, brand, or category can still be first, be it a new category. To leave you with one other example, Heineken was the first highly imported beer. There may be a favorably positioned product to be the number one imported, domestic beer, and that would be Michelob. Lastly, to push to point home, Miller Light was the first domestic light beer, and if they can exist, so can an imported light beer, and first in that category was Amstel Light.

So there you have it, Law number two. Hopefully, this information was helpful to you, and that you learned something new. And until next time, have a blessed day, and I will see you on the flipside.

Saturday, November 14, 2020

MY NETFLIX MOVIE REVIEWS #234



On the eve of D-Day, the 5th of June, 1944, several American paratroopers are dropped behind enemy lines to carry out a mission crucial to the invasion's success: destroy a radio tower built in a little castle of an old French town that the Third Reich uses for communication between Berlin and Normandy beaches' bunkers. Due to the intense enemy fire, the planes are shot down, and most soldiers die in the landing or are killed by the Nazis' night patrols after they land. However, a private named Ed Boyce survives to find Corporal Ford, a last-minute incorporation from Italy and a veteran expert in bombs and explosives, rogue sniper Tibbet, war photographer Chase, and finally private Dawson. After they watch the killing of their superior Sargeant Eldson by a Nazi night patrol, Ford becomes the leader of the group, and they try to get the town with the tower in order to complete the mission. In the forest close to the town they meet Chloe, a villager who assists the soldiers in her home with ... Written by Chockys (Courtesy of Internet Movie Database)

OVERLORD (2018) Is directed by Julius Avery, written by Billy Ray & Mark L. Smith, and produced by J.J. Abrams & Lindsey Weber.

Having seen the trailer to get me excited for this film, seeing what looked like zombies, I was happy to see it finally arrive. Upon watching the film I found it immediately engaging with an incredible opening sequence.

As the film moved along, I found the film's scope rather limiting and, at the same time, a bit simplistic. Then, realizing the film was not going in your typical zombie format crossed up my expectations, leaving me a bit disappointed. 

In the End: OVERLORD turned out to be a different film than I expected. Yet it still was entertaining, although I may forget this film in a few weeks or two as it didn’t do anything memorable for me. So for this film, I give it 2.5 stars of 5.




Thursday, November 12, 2020

ART SHARE

Welcome to another Able Abe Studios Art Share. This WIP is coming together nicely, even getting to use a new set of markers ...Let's GO!!!


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Wednesday, November 11, 2020

THE MARKETING LAW OF LEADERSHIP


 
I would not say I am a marketing guru of any sort, but there have been rules set that you violate at your own risk from the beginning. In today's piece, I will speak about only one of them, and that one is on Leadership.

As I have found my way through to a BA in Communication Design, Journalism, and back to Art, I have found a tremendous amount of information that has helped me in my self-promotion. One of these tools was the book THE 22 IMMUTABLE LAWS of MARKETING by Al Ries & Jack Trout. I have read and reviewed this book on this channel, and you can watch the review here BOOK REVIEW. In today's piece, though, as I had stated, I will be talking about the first of these laws, which is Leadership.

This first Immutable law states: "It's better to be first than it is to be better. It's much easier to get into the mind first than to try to convince someone you have a better product than the one that did get there first."

At my first read, I thought this idea didn't make sense, let alone be correct, but think to yourself, who was the first person to fly the Atlantic Ocean solo? Yes, Charles Lindbergh. Do you remember who was second? The answer to that is Bert Hinkler, but you probably never heard of him, and he was the more skilled pilot.

This law applies to any product, any brand, and any category. Looking at magazines TIME lead NEWSWEEK, PEOPLE lead US, and PLAYBOY led PENTHOUSE. We can even take it to our modern-day look at app-based car services as UBER leads LYFT or streaming services NETFLIX leads HULU.

Furthermore, the reason a first to a position becomes the one prospects recognize is that their name often becomes a generic reference for that product, brand, or category. For example, XEROX Copiers came first, and although others copy machines have developed since then, people have blanketed the process as making a Xerox copy. People ask if you want a COKE when they only have PEPSI –COLA. The portion of the law may not hold as hard and fast as the rest of the law, yet when thinking of a name for your product, brand, or category, think of a name that can be used as a "generic" term to describe it making it superior in the mind of the prospect.

A few notable firsts would be Neil Armstrong, the firsts to walk on the moon. Roger Bannister first to run the four-minute mile. George Washington, the first president of the United States. Thomas English muffins the first English muffin. Gatorade the first sports drink. Can you name any of those in the second position?

As the law states, if you are second into the prospect's mind, you are doomed to lay behind forever. It may not in all actuality be as I've stated be so hard and fast a rule, but for the last championship team, you can remember what the team that came in second was? And it is that simple.

So I hope this information from the book THE 22 IMMUTABLE LAWS OF MARKETING was helpful to you somehow. And so, like we always do, have a blessed day, and I will see you on the flip side ...Let's GO!!!

Thursday, November 5, 2020

ART SHARE

Welcome back to another Able Abe Studios Art Share. This week I drop a WIP showing a new process pencil to ink and then add some color as I continue to work on this piece ...Let's GO!!!


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Wednesday, November 4, 2020

HOW TO PRACTICE PRODUCTIVE PROCRASTINATION


For as long as I can remember, the word procrastination had a negative connotation. As I write, I envision a student waiting until the day before an assignment is due to start working on it. Or the person who keeps putting off a task saying they'll do it tomorrow. These are your typical ideas of what procrastination looks like, which has always been a bad thing. But what if I told you procrastination could be productive? Well, in today's piece, I will show you how you can practice productive procrastination.  

So I am sure, like me, the idea of productive procrastination seems counterintuitive. Yet in Austin Kleon's book Steal Like an Artist, which I have reviewed on this channel, you can find it here BOOK REVIEW. This section talks about how this practice can be helpful to the creative mind. Austin says it like this.

"I think it's good to have a lot of projects going at once so you can bounce between them. When you get sick of one project, move over to another, and when you're sick of that one, move back to the project you left. Practice productive procrastination."

This passage is so intriguing because I have always viewed procrastination as a destructive force that keeps one from the real success of completing a project. Here though, Austin states the truth in that a project can become dull or the inspiration to work on it fades. Instead of being stuck in that energy, which would probably lead to the type of procrastination we all know. Being we are in the outs with a project, we'll find anything else to do, so why not invest time in another project that brings us joy. In this way, we continue to progress on two projects, although one may pause for the moment.

Furthermore, as we begin to touch on another aspect of what we know about procrastination, the idea of boredom makes its appearance. Austin Kleon addresses that in this passage.

"Take time to be bored. One time I heard a co-worker say, "When I get busy, I get stupid." Ain't that the truth. Creative people need time to sit around and do nothing. I get some of my best ideas when I'm bored, which is why I never take my shirts to the cleaners. I love ironing my shirts-its so boring, I almost always get good ideas. If you're out of ideas, wash the dishes. Take a really long walk. Stare at a spot on the wall for as long as you can. As the artist, Maria Kalman says, "Avoiding work is the way to focus your mind."

I feel this hits the nail on the head as many times ideas for my next project or a breakthrough on a current project come to me during a moment of stark boredom.

So my point in sharing this piece is to inspire you to practice productive procrastination. As I've just shown through a couple of passages from Austin Kleon's book Steal Like an Artist, and we come to find out that all procrastination doesn't have to be bad procrastination.

I hope sharing this insight can help you in some way. And so for now, have a blessed day, and I will see you on the flipside ...Let's GO!!!